Tuesday 21 September 2010 05.16 EDT
First published on Tuesday 21 September 2010 05.16 EDT

Banning newly qualified young drivers from night-time motoring, drinking any alcohol or carrying passengers of a similar age could save 200 lives a year and lead to 1,700 fewer injuries, according to researchers.

A Cardiff University study says NHS costs in treating people involved in road accidents could be significantly cut if a system of graduated driver licensing (GDL) was introduced for 17- to 24-year-olds and operated for up to two years after they passed their driving tests.

Similar schemes already exist in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and parts of the US. One in five new drivers in the UK crash within six months of passing their test and young drivers are 10 times more likely to be involved in accidents.

Sarah Jones, a public health consultant who led the research, said: "GDL works in other countries and there is no good reason why it wouldn't work here." She told the Radio 4's Today programme that such schemes allowed younger drivers to gain experience in safer driving conditions.

But Edmund King, president of the AA, said there were already tough measures in place to protect young drivers.

He said that in other countries motorists were able to drive from a younger age than in Britain, where there was also a tougher test.

King added that young motorists already face a ban when they reached six penalty points on their licence compared with 12 points for older drivers. He said his organisation favoured more training on driving and road safety for young people in school or college to "get safer drivers before they take to the road rather than introduce restrictions afterwards".

Critics say police would find it difficult to enforce graduated licences, although more insurance companies could offer schemes that meant cheaper premiums for those young drivers who, for instance, did not drive late at night. These were monitored by black boxes in their cars.